I spent the weekend hating TrainingPeaks. I know its the only platform available, but its such an awkward user experience, that I find myself wishing there was anything else.
To make my life a little easier, I spent a few hours and made a small application that will export your TrainingPeaks calendar into a platform agnostic file format that can be then imported into a calendar application of your choosing (Outlook, iCal, Google Calendar, etc.).
Medium Effort Endurance with Sprints. Workout effort should be upper end Endurance HR/Endurance Power Zone with the exception of sprints. While riding a medium effort endurance ride do a 20 second all out sprint every 10 minutes. After the sprint return to the endurance pace. Focus on a cadence of 90-100 rpm, do not push a hard gear.
Nice ride 3+ hour ride indoors today. Little too wet and cold to ride outside, so I blew through three episodes of Terra Nova.
I’m convinced there is an art to riding indoors that needs to be re-discovered each winter. You must re-learn how to avoid any thought of your current discomfort. Finding just the right distraction is a must. My current favorite is Hulu. Endless hours of brain-decaying TV to choose from.
TEMPO RIDE 15′ x 4. Warmup consists of 5 minutes at Active Recovery HR/Power Zone, followed by 10 minutes at upper-end Endurance HR/Endurance Power Zone. Ride 15 minutes at Tempo HR/Power Zone with a cadence of 80+ rpm. Ride 5 minutes at Active Recovery. Repeat for a total of 4 intervals. Finish workout with a 5 minute cooldown at 90+ cadence. Any addtional time scheduled should be done at Endurance HR/Power Zone.
Crazy hard effort today. I’ve been indoors since early November. Tempo efforts shouldn’t feel this hard…
Flash Carbon 29er Deliciousness
Its the time of year when I start to feel the affects of riding indoors. After a month of stewing in my own juices on the trainer, I need a change of pace.
To this end I decided to give one of these fancy new 29er’s a try. My weapon of choice was the Cannondale Flash Carbon 29er 1.
After a few days on the trails I’ve spent some time alone… with only my thoughts… and documented the experience. Take a look at a review from an admitted MTB neophyte. Its one tasty machine.
Cannondale Flash Carbon 29er 1 review.
Threshold Peak Intervals 1a. Warm up for 10 minutes slowly increasing to upper-end Tempo HR/Power Zone by minute 8 and finish the last two minutes of warmup at Active Recovery. Then complete 4 x 3 minutes at upper-end Threshold HR/Power Zone with 2 minutes at Active Recovery between intervals. Alternate between a high cadence and low cadence each minute of the interval. Any time beyond the intervals indicated above should be done in Endurance HR/Power Zone.
Felt much better today. I’m noticing more and more leafs on the ground every day up the canyons. The cool weather makes for great riding, but it is a bit depressing to think that in just a few short weeks its indoor riding again.
Snapped a 180° photo of the canyon from just above the Timpanooke campground. Still some remnants of snow on Timpanogos.
Mount Timpanogos from just above the Timpanooke Campground
Midway up Suncrest
Medium Effort Endurance with Sprints. Workout effort should be upper end Endurance HR/Endurance Power Zone with the exception of sprints. While riding a medium effort endurance ride do a 20 second all out sprint every 10 minutes. After the sprint return to the endurance pace. Focus on a cadence of 90-100 rpm, do not push a hard gear.
Was intending to head up AF again today, but the entrance was totally plugged. About 30 cars (and trailers) waiting to get in. Ended up hitting Suncrest.
Felt pretty good, but 20 seconds all out is just naughty.
Tempo ride 15 minute intervals. Warmup consists of 5 minutes at Active Recovery HR/Power Zone, followed by 10 minutes at upper-end Endurance HR/Endurance Power Zone. Ride 15 minutes at Tempo HR/Power Zone with a cadence of 80+ rpm. Ride 5 minutes at Active Recovery. Repeat for a total of 6 intervals. Finish workout with a 5 minute cooldown at 90+ cadence. Any additional time scheduled above intervals should be done at Endurance HR/Power Zone.
Don’t know what it is, but I’ve felt great the past three days in a row. Ran out of road on the last interval, so I only made it ~13 minutes. Ended up riding American Fork Canyon several times. Down as far as I could go during the 5-minutes rest, then back up. I was actually cold a few times. I love riding this time of year.
Short Sprints 1 – After 5 minute warmup, do 8×10 second sprints at maximum effort. Between each sprint ride for 3 minutes of recovery. The remainder of the ride time to be completed in Slow to Fast Endurance HR/Endurance Power Zone.
Felt great today. Other than the sprints, I didn’t push it really hard, but seemed like I could have rocked. Even had a peak sprint of over 950 watts. Nice.
This is a ride with extremely low effort. Recovery rides should allow your body to recharge while on the bike. Ride in Active Recovery.
This was supposed to be a very easy pace, but I ended up ridding with someone else and pushed a little harder than I would have otherwise. Nothing super strenuous though.
